Irish Politics

On Easter Monday, April 24, 1916, the first great revolution of the twentieth century began as working-class men and women occupied buildings throughout Dublin, Ireland, including the general post office on O’Connell Street. Among the commoners in the GPO was a young staff captain of the Irish Volunteers named Michael Collins. He was joined a day later by a fourteen-year-old messenger boy, Eoin Kavanagh.

A New York Times bestseller! The gripping story of Whitey Bulger, the mobster turned FBI informant responsible for the worst crime spree Boston has ever seen. “A powerhouse of a book. Dick Lehr and Gerard O'Neill ... write like veteran novelists, weaving scene after jaw-dropping scene into a...

For the past two decades, you could cross the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic half a dozen times without noticing or, indeed, without turning off the road you were travelling. It cuts through fields, winds back-and-forth across roads, and wends from the mouth of the Newry River...

'A soul-shattering novel that will leave your emotions raw. This story will haunt me forever. Everyone should read it' Guardian In a small town where everyone knows everyone, Emma O'Donovan is different. She is the special one - beautiful, popular, powerful. And she works hard to keep it that...

An unparalleled collection of Full-Cast BBC Drama adaptations of Sean O’Casey’s powerful, poignant works One of Ireland’s foremost playwrights, Sean O’Casey is renowned for his groundbreaking plays depicting the lives of poor, working-class Dubliners struggling with social and political...

Bloomsbury presents… The Plot Against Ireland: The Forger, Spies, Conmen and Terrorists Who Conspired Against Irish Home Rule Written and read by Myles Dungan In the late nineteenth century, the great Tory leader Lord Salisbury and his closest collaborators were haunted by the looming threat...

Eamonn McCann’s account of what it is like to grow up a Catholic in a Northern Irish ghetto - first published in 1974 - quickly became a classic account of the feelings generated by British rule. The author was at the center of events in Derry which first brought Northern Ireland to world attention. He witnessed the gradual transformation of the civil rights movement from a mild campaign for “British Democracy” to an all-out military assault on the British state. This book describes the people involved in the war and gives an account of the springs of the "Catholic" opposition.

Brought to you by Penguin. A powerful memoir from 'the Democrats’ most talented political newcomer since Barack Obama' (Time) Two kids named Wes Moore shared much more than a name; they shared remarkably similar circumstances. Both grew up father­less and had difficult childhoods; both hung...

Tales of the Elders of Ireland (Acallam na Senórach) represents the largest literary text surviving from 12th-century Ireland, the most comprehensive early collection of Fenian stories and poetry. Three parallel worlds interact: the contemporary Christian world of Saint Patrick with his scribes, clerics, occasional angels, and souls rescued from Hell; the earlier pagan world of the ancient, giant Fenians and an array of Irish kings; and the timeless Otherworld, peopled by ever-young shape-shifting fairies.

Brought to you by Penguin. Will Ireland really reunite? Throughout the century since partition the unification of the two parts of the island seemed impossible. Many still feel that it is, particularly because of the bloody legacy of past conflict. However, by 2030, if not sooner, Ulster...

WINNER OF THE AUREALIS AWARD FOR BEST HORROR NOVEL 2025 An unputdownable supernatural thriller about a mysterious global event, set in an Australian rural town. It began in every town and city at the same time, in every dark and twisted corner of our world. One third of the earth's citizens were...

Unearth a gripping Irish history of survival and rebellion, tracing a millennium of anti-colonial resilience. Perfect for a reflective commute or exploring ancestral heritage, this evocative narrative captures the raw experiences of ordinary people. Listen as ancient clan halls, famine cabins...

Brought to you by Penguin. Ireland has tended to think of itself as a ‘Goldilocks’ country: not too hot, not too cold, and well positioned to ride out the climate emergency. But this is a fantasy: the effects of climate change in Ireland will be profound, and at the moment we’re not doing...

A lively history of the Watch and Ward Society - New England's notorious literary censor for over eighty years. Banned in Boston is the first-ever history of the Watch and Ward Society - once Boston's unofficial moral guardian. An influential watchdog organization, bankrolled by society's upper crust, it actively suppressed vices like gambling and prostitution, and oversaw the mass censorship of books and plays.

It’s exhausting, being Irish. The constant self-flagellation is enough to put anybody off their breakfast. Why are we so hard on ourselves? Is it the post-colonial overhang following centuries of oppression at the hands of a litany of foreign invaders? Or is it collective guilt for sending...

An immensely impressive, authoritative history of the Irish diaspora 'A richly detailed, scholarly and challenging history' Sunday Times 'For Irish history buffs, it's indispensable' Irish Independent 'An absorbing, lucid and sometimes harrowing account' Daily Telegraph 'Essential reading for...

Published in 1791, Thomas Paine’s The Rights of Man defended the French Revolution’s values of freedom, equality, and brotherhood. He argued that a government based on justice ought to support mankind’s civil rights relating to security and protection, as well as the natural rights to life, liberty, and freedom of conscience. He also proposed plans for universal education, pensions, poverty relief, and social welfare in this classic work that was widely read across the West.

Author Stephen Birmingham, who chronicled the rise of Jewish immigrants to extraordinary wealth and success in Our Crowd, now turns his attention to the Irish. Real Lace tells the colorful and fascinating true stories of America’s most renowned Irish-Catholic families. Scions of courageous, driven, and resilient men and women who escaped starvation during Ireland’s terrible potato famine in the mid-19th century, they battled their way out of the slums of Boston and New York, overcoming prejudice and poverty to achieve great wealth, fame, and political power.

Bloomsbury presents The Northern Ireland Troubles by Aaron Edwards, read by Stephen Armstrong. Acclaimed historian Dr Aaron Edwards provides a concise overview of one of the most difficult and controversial actions in recent history. Spanning 38 years of the ‘Troubles’, the British Army’s...

William Butler Yeats's early poetry is suffused with the radiant lyricism of Irish folklore and myth; the yearning romance and distinctly Irish voice of these first works of the Nobel laureate have inspired scores of poets. This splendid selection offers a distinctive sampling of the Yeatsian...